The best viewing of the Leonids will be from about 1:00 a.m. to dawn on 17 November 2012. That means Friday night (16 November) for those of you like me that have trouble keeping the a.m./p.m. thing separate from the date.

The best way to view these meteors streaking away from Leo is to look straight up. This means bringing a nice, comfortable lounge/camp chair outside to sit in. You'll also want to bundle up and bring plenty of blankets- sitting still outside in the cold, pre-dawn hours is not an activity that will warm your blood. A thermos full of hot coffee or chocolate might be nice, too.

At the same time the Leonids are peaking (20-30 meteors per hour under ideal conditions) near Ursa Major, the Taurids will be waning near the Pleiades and the Orionids (debris from Comet Halley) near Orion. The Taurids and Orionids are of much less frequency (10-15 meteors per hour) but should add a few more shooting stars to the sky.